Patchwork Symphony Evening / Some good playing in odd musical mix

Published 4:00 am, Friday, February 23, 1996

Nothing inspires appreciation for the art of concert planning -- if only by negative example -- like the kind of shapeless lineup the San Francisco Symphony offers this week.

Wednesday's performance in Davies Symphony Hall featured some taut, colorful music-making, under the resourceful baton of associate conductor Alasdair Neale. But the rambling program itself -- with five pieces, two guest soloists and no discernible center of gravity -- felt as disjointed at evening's end as it had going in.

The one detectable thread, as well as the evening's strongest playing, came after intermission, with a pair of Spanish-themed pieces. Louis Lortie was the piano soloist in Falla's evocative "Nights in the Gardens of Spain," after which Neale conducted Rimsky- Korsakov's "Capriccio espagnol," Op. 34, giving the work its first performance on a Symphony subscription program in 78 years.

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DUSKY PICTURES

Falla's quasi-concerto, a triptych of dusky pictures in sound, was written during his years in Paris, and its rhythmic nuances and nocturnal shades speak eloquently of the composer's memories of home. Neale skillfully brought out the music's sinuous briskness.

Even more impressive was the way Lortie managed to fashion the piano's ambiguous role as half solo ist, half ensemble member. In passages where Falla brings the piano to the fore, Lortie played with the most discreetly brilliant virtuosity imaginable; elsewhere, he contributed a distinctive counterpoint to the orchestral textures.

SPANISH TUNES

In contrast to Falla's subtly shifting moods, Rimsky-Korsakov's dazzling orchestral essay is all flash and exuberant display, with Spanish tunes feeding the play of instrumental color -- a portrait of an exotic far-off land rather than an exercise in homesick nostalgia. The orchestra's reading was bright and full of punch, with the brass contributing mightily.

The evening began with a handsomely detailed, if sometimes foursquare, account of Bartok's "Dance Suite." Neale brought out the profusion of folk tunes that shape the score, giving them a lively, forthright character; the opening movement, with its alluring ritornello, was particularly fine.

Violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, who at her best can be a thrilling performer, gave what may be her weakest San Francisco showing to date in a double-header of Chausson's "Poeme" and Ravel's "Tzigane." The Chausson called on her for a kind of rapturous tenderness that is far from her strong point; the result was an abrasive and often ungracious reading.

"Tzigane" is better suited to Salerno-Sonnenberg's brand of spitfire poetry, but Wednesday found her braving pitch problems and tripping over the piece's fiendish technical displays. Harpist Douglas Rioth acquitted himself splendidly.

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SYMPHONY TICKETS

The San Francisco Symphony's subscription program repeats at 8 tonight and tomorrow night in Davies Symphony Hall. Call (415) 864-6000.

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